Visual ivr using call redirect

ABSTRACT

A method is provided for redirecting a call initiated from a portable communication device. The method includes screening calls initiated from the portable communication device, and on the portable communication device, automatically redirecting the call initiated from the portable communication device from a normal communication network to a specified service provider communication network when the screening determines that the call matches predetermined criteria. The method also includes authenticating a user account, executing a visual IVR application that visually interacts with a user of the portable communication device upon authentication of the account, and forwarding the redirected call via a communication network to an alternate system when the authentication of the account fails. The method further includes retrieving personalized account information from the service provider for use by the visual IVR application upon authentication of the account, and displaying selected retrieved personalized account information.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/688,774, filed on Nov. 29, 2012. The disclosure of thisdocument, including the specification, drawings, and claims, isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Disclosure

The present disclosure relates to the field of communications. Moreparticularly, the present disclosure relates to the use of call redirecttechnology for a portable hand-held communication device. Themethodology includes provisions for redirecting a call to a caller'sservice provider initiated from a portable communication device,authenticating the portable communication device, and launching a visualinteractive voice response (IVR) application that visually interactswith a user of the portable communication device upon properauthentication of the portable communication device.

2. Background Information

Traditionally, calls made to a caller's service provider for informationand/or service are transmitted via a communication network to theservice provider. Upon receipt of the call by the service provider, thecaller frequently interacts with a traditional audio interactive voiceresponse (IVR) application over the communication network. Thetraditional audio IVR experience leads the caller through a frequentlytime-consuming sequence of stages to determine the nature of thecaller's inquiry, and to direct the caller to an appropriate automatedvoice response or customer service representative possessing thespecific information desired by the caller.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary general computer system;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a process for redirectingcalls originating from a portable communication device based on adetermination that the service provider providing communication servicesto the portable communication device is the same service providerassociated with the visual IVR application;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary illustration of an owner visual IVR homepage and related additional visual page; and

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a process initiated when acaller elects to talk with a service provider agent based on a selectionmade from the visual IVR home page.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In view of the foregoing, the present disclosure, through one or more ofits various aspects, embodiments and/or specific features orsub-components, is thus intended to bring out one or more of theadvantages as specifically noted below. According to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure, a method provides for redirecting a callinitiated from a portable communication device and subsequentlylaunching a visual IVR application in response to the call. The methodincludes screening calls initiated from the portable communicationdevice by a communication application, and redirecting a call initiatedfrom the portable communication device when the screening determinesthat the call meets predetermined criteria. The method also includesauthenticating an account corresponding to the portable communicationdevice that initiated the call by communicating with a service providercommunication network, and executing a visual IVR application thatvisually interacts with a user of the portable communication device uponauthentication of the account by the service provider communicationnetwork.

In another embodiment, the method further includes retrievingpersonalized account information from the service provider for use bythe visual IVR application upon authentication of the account by theservice provider communication network.

In a further embodiment, the method includes providing an audiocommunication and a visual communication to a user of the portablecommunication device upon completion of the retrieving personalizedaccount information.

In an embodiment, the method further includes terminating theredirecting of the call and forwarding the call via a communicationnetwork to an audio IVR system when the authenticating an account fails.

In another embodiment, the method includes simulating a phone call byplaying a ring cycle audio file that is audible to a user of theportable communication device during the authenticating an account andthe retrieving personalized account information.

In a further embodiment, matching the predetermined criteria includesdetermining whether the service provider currently providingcommunication services to the portable communication device matches adesignated service provider.

In an embodiment, the retrieved personalized account information fromthe service provider varies dependent upon a duration of time that anowner of the portable communication device has used the service providercommunication network.

In another embodiment, the method further includes displaying an ownerhomepage that includes selected retrieved personalized accountinformation on a display of the portable communication device.

In a further embodiment, the selected retrieved personalized accountinformation includes a current status of owner billing information, acurrent status of owner communication usage information, and a pluralityof visual selectors that enable a user of the portable communicationdevice to select additional visual pages of information and to talk withan agent of the service provider.

In an embodiment, the additional visual pages of information providevisual selectors enabling a user of the portable communication device totalk to a specialized agent of the service provider who possessesspecialized knowledge about a specific service provided by the serviceprovider.

In another embodiment, the plurality of visual selectors includes avisual selector that enables an owner of the portable communicationdevice to initiate an enhanced authentication process enabling the ownerto access owner information having a higher level of security than theretrieved personalized account information.

In a further embodiment, the plurality of visual selectors that enable auser of the portable communication device to select additional visualpages of information and to talk with the agent of the service providermay be activated by the user touching the display of the portablecommunication device.

In an embodiment, the plurality of visual selectors that enable a userof the portable communication device to select additional visual pagesof information and to talk with the agent of the service provider may beactivated by the user audibly issuing voice commands and/or textcommands to the portable communication device, which are received by areceiver in the portable communication device.

In another embodiment, the method further includes identifying a type ofthe portable communication device, redirecting the call initiated fromthe portable communication device internally by the portablecommunication device when the type is identified as a first type ofportable communication device, and redirecting the call initiated fromthe portable communication device externally by the service providercommunication network when the type is identified as a second type ofportable communication device.

In a further embodiment, designated visual selectors enable the owner toexecute special functions, the special functions including managingcommunication plan services, checking upgrade status, resetting apassword, and accessing information determined to be useful to an ownerof the portable communication device by the service provider.

In an embodiment, designated visual selectors enable the owner toexecute special functions, the special functions including accessingother service accounts that the owner has with the service provider.

In another embodiment, a tangible computer-readable storage medium isencoded with an executable computer program for redirecting a callinitiated from a portable communication device, and when executed by aprocessor, causes the processor to perform designated operations. Thesedesignated operations include screening calls initiated from theportable communication device by a communication application, andredirecting a call initiated from the portable communication device whenthe screening determines that the call matches predetermined criteria.The designated operations also include authenticating an accountcorresponding to the portable communication device that initiated thecall by communicating with a service provider communication network, andexecuting a visual IVR application that visually interacts with a userof the portable communication device upon authentication of the accountby the service provider communication network.

In a further embodiment, the designated operations further includeretrieving personalized account information from the service providerfor use by the visual IVR application upon authentication of the accountby the service provider communication network.

In an embodiment, a portable communication device includes a memory thatstores programs and data used by the portable communication device, anda display that displays information to a user of the portablecommunication device. The portable communication device also includes aprocessor that screens calls initiated from the portable communicationdevice, redirects a call initiated from the portable communicationdevice when the screening determines that the call matches predeterminedcriteria, authenticates an account corresponding to the portablecommunication device that initiated the call by communicating with aservice provider communication network, and launches a visual IVRapplication that visually interacts with a user of the portablecommunication device upon authentication of the account by the serviceprovider communication network.

In another embodiment, the processor terminates the redirecting of thecall, and forwards the call via a communication network to an audio IVRsystem when the authenticating an account fails.

FIG. 1 is an illustrative embodiment of a general computer system, onwhich part or all of a process for redirecting calls originating from aportable communication device and executing a visual IVR applicationthat visually interacts with a user of the portable communication devicecan be implemented, which is designated 100 in FIG. 1. The computersystem 100 can include a set of instructions that can be executed tocause the computer system 100 to perform any one or more of the methodsor computer based functions disclosed herein. The computer system 100may operate as a standalone device or may be connected, for example,using a network 101, to other computer systems or peripheral devices.

In a networked deployment, the computer system may operate in thecapacity of a server or as a client user computer in a server-clientuser network environment, or as a peer computer system in a peer-to-peer(or distributed) network environment. The computer system 100 can alsobe implemented as or incorporated into various devices, such as apersonal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a mobile device, a global positioning satellite(GPS) device, a palmtop computer, a laptop computer, a desktop computer,a communications device, a wireless telephone, a land-line telephone, acontrol system, a camera, a scanner, a facsimile machine, a printer, apager, a personal trusted device, a web appliance, a network router,switch or bridge, or any other machine capable of executing a set ofinstructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be takenby that machine. In a particular embodiment, the computer system 100 canbe implemented using electronic devices that provide voice, video ordata communication. Further, while a single computer system 100 isillustrated, the term “system” shall also be taken to include anycollection of systems or sub-systems that individually or jointlyexecute a set, or multiple sets, of instructions to perform one or morecomputer functions.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the computer system 100 may include aprocessor 110, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a graphicsprocessing unit (GPU), or both. Moreover, the computer system 100 caninclude a main memory 120 and a static memory 130 that can communicatewith each other via a bus 108. As shown, the computer system 100 mayfurther include a video display unit 150, such as a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a flat paneldisplay, a solid state display, or a cathode ray tube (CRT).Additionally, the computer system 100 may include an alpha-numeric inputdevice 160, such as a keyboard, and a cursor control device 170, such asa mouse. The computer system 100 can also include a disk drive unit 180,a signal generation device 190, such as a speaker or remote control, anda network interface device 140.

In a particular embodiment, as depicted in FIG. 1, the disk drive unit180 may include a computer-readable medium 182 in which one or more setsof instructions 184, e.g. software, can be embedded. A computer-readablemedium 182 is a tangible article of manufacture, from which sets ofinstructions 184 can be read. Further, the instructions 184 may embodyone or more of the methods or logic as described herein. In a particularembodiment, the instructions 184 may reside completely, or at leastpartially, within the main memory 120, the static memory 130, and/orwithin the processor 110 during execution by the computer system 100.The main memory 120 and the processor 110 also may includecomputer-readable media.

In an alternative embodiment, dedicated hardware implementations, suchas application specific integrated circuits, programmable logic arraysand other hardware devices, can be constructed to implement one or moreof the methods described herein. Applications that may include theapparatus and systems of various embodiments can broadly include avariety of electronic and computer systems. One or more embodimentsdescribed herein may implement functions using two or more specificinterconnected hardware modules or devices with related control and datasignals that can be communicated between and through the modules, or asportions of an application-specific integrated circuit. Accordingly, thepresent system encompasses software, firmware, and hardwareimplementations.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure, themethods described herein may be implemented by software programsexecutable by a computer system. Further, in an exemplary, non-limitedembodiment, implementations can include distributed processing,component/object distributed processing, and parallel processing.Alternatively, virtual computer system processing can be constructed toimplement one or more of the methods or functionality as describedherein.

The present disclosure contemplates a non-transitory computer-readablemedium 182 that includes instructions 184 or receives and executesinstructions 184 responsive to a propagated signal, so that a deviceconnected to a network 101 can communicate voice, video or data over thenetwork 101. Further, the instructions 184 may be transmitted orreceived over the network 101 via the network interface device 140.

FIG. 2 shows an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of a process 200for redirecting calls originating from a portable communication devicebased on a determination that the service provider providingcommunication services to the portable communication device is the sameservice provider associated with the visual IVR application. The visualIVR application may implemented in several ways. For instance, thevisual IVR application may be resident in the memory of the portablecommunication device. Alternatively, the visual IVR application may belocated in a service provider server at a location remote from theportable communication device and accessed directly over a network.Another embodiment would include launching the visual IVR application byusing an HTML browser using the Internet to interface with a serviceprovider server.

As illustrated in block 201 of FIG. 2, all calls originating from theportable communication device are screened by a communication program.The call screening 201 determines whether the calls match predeterminedcriteria. The predetermined criteria may include whether a call from theportable communication device is a special 611 call, that is, a user ofthe portable communication device calls the special number “611”. Thepredetermined criteria may also include whether a call from the portablecommunication device is a designated 800 call or a service callassociated with other service provider specific codes. In thisdisclosure, designated 800 calls refer to calls made by a user of theportable communication device to a number associated with the serviceprovider of the communication services utilized by the portablecommunication device. Service calls refer to calls made by a user of theportable communication device utilizing a special format or a specificcode, such as special “star services.” The special format or code mayinclude calls using special characters, such as a star “*” character, apound “#” character, some other special character, or a designatedcombination of special characters. These special characters are utilizedin conjunction with other alpha/numeric characters. While only special611 calls, designated 800 calls, and other carrier specific code servicecalls are illustrated in the exemplary embodiment of the processillustrated in FIG. 2, any particular call using alpha/numericcharacters and/or special characters able to be called by a user of theportable communication device may be designated as being a call needingto be redirected.

The screening calls 201 may also include a determination of whether theparticular portable communication device originating a call permitson-device call redirection of not. If the particular portablecommunication device permits on-device redirection, and meets otherestablished criteria, then the process may proceed to box 203. However,if the particular portable communication device does not permiton-device call redirection, then the call may be forwarded to box 202and processed in a normal conventional manner.

At the decision box 201, all calls originating from a portablecommunication device are screened based on predetermined criteria, suchas that described above. As illustrated in FIG. 2, designated 800 classand special service calls, such as calls utilizing special serviceprovider specific codes, proceed to box 204 for a determination ofwhether the call should be redirected. However, special “611” callsproceed to box 203. Special 611 calls originating from a portablecommunication devices are defined as a short-cut way to contact theservice provider providing communication services to the portablecommunication device. Thus, a user attempting to contact the serviceprovider providing communication services to the portable communicationdevice would not want to have their call redirected to the visual IVRapplication of a different service provider. However, the user of theportable communication device may have an arrangement with the differentservice provider for other communication services that are not providedby the service provider that is providing communication services to theportable communication device. Thus, when a user calls a designated 800number assigned to the other service provider, it would be preferable tohave such calls to the other service provider be redirected at 204. Thissituation occurs when the other service provider is also the sameservice provider that is associated with the visual IVR application thatis resident on the portable communication device.

Thus, at box 203, a determination is made whether the special “611” callwas originated from a portable communication device that hascommunication services provided by the same service provider that isassociated with the visual IVR application that is resident on theportable communication device. When it is determined at 203 that theservice provider of the portable communication device and the visual IVRapplication are the same, then the call redirect process proceeds to box204. However, when it is determined at 203 that the service provider ofthe portable communication device is different from the service providerassociated with the visual IVR application that is resident on theportable communication device, then the “611” call is processed at 202in a normal convention manner and is not redirected. Thus, the user ofthe portable communication device is unaware that the call was subjectedto a call screening process.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the actual redirection of calls that may beeligible for call redirection are forwarded to box 204 to begin the nextphase of the call redirection process. This next phase begins at 205where the process determines if the call can be authenticated by theservice provider network, based on predetermined criteria associatedwith the owner of the portable communication device. When a screenedcall originating from the portable communication device matchespredetermined criteria, which may be stored on a service on the next orin a memory of the portable communication device, the call is redirected205. The predetermined criteria may take one or more of many forms. Forinstance, the predetermined criteria may relate to include alphanumericdata recognition, voiceprint recognition, audio command recognition,fingerprint recognition, facial recognition, or other visually-relatedor audio-related information recognition. Additionally, other biometricforms of recognition may also be utilized. Furthermore, thepredetermined criteria may include the use of a combination of two ormore of the preceding recognition possibilities.

When a determination is made at 205 to authenticate the account of thecaller, which is presumably the owner of the portable communicationdevice, two separate events are simultaneously initiated. A first eventthat is initiated is an initial account authentication 206 of the ownerservice provider account associated with the portable communicationdevice. This initial authentication is a first level authentication ofat least two levels of authentication that are used in an overallcomposite authentication process. The number of levels of authenticationmay vary based on the desired levels information security.

While the service provider must provide the necessary capability formultiple levels of authentication, other embodiments of theauthentication process enable the owner of the portable communicationdevice to select the number of levels of authentication that areemployed by the portable communication device to protect informationhaving different levels of security requirements. A further embodimentwould enable the owner of the portable communication device to selectwhich specific information is to be associated with each level ofsecurity and corresponding authentication requirement.

With regard to the network authentication at 205, the portablecommunication device electronically communicates with the serviceprovider over a communications network in order to retrieve thenecessary initial authentication. This electronic communication toobtain the necessary initial authentication at 205 is preferablytransparent to the user of the portable communication device.

When the initial authentication 205 of the owner service provideraccount associated with the portable communication device issuccessfully completed, the process then retrieves predeterminedpersonalized account information 208 of the owner of the portablecommunication device and stores the predetermined personalized accountinformation of the owner in a memory of the portable communicationdevice. The predetermined personalized account information retrievedduring this process 208 corresponds to a first security level.

If, however, either the initial authentication process 206 fails or theattempted retrieval of the personalized account information of the owner208 fails, the call redirect process is terminated by the portablecommunication device and the call that had been redirected at 204 isprocessed in a conventional manner and is forwarded to a traditionalaudio IVR system at 210. Preferably, the redirection of the call at 204,the attempted authentication of the account at 206, the attemptedretrieval of the personalized account information at 208, thetermination of the call redirect at 210, and the directing of the callto a traditional audio IVR system are executed in a manner transparentto the user of the portable communication device.

Returning now to the redirection of the call and network authentication205, the second events of the two separate events that aresimultaneously initiated upon the redirection of the call is asimulation of a phone call 207. This simulation of a phone call 207 isimplemented by playing a traditional ring cycle audio file that is alsostored in the memory of the portable communication device. The simulatedphone call is audible to the user of the portable communication device,and serves to alleviate or avoid possible anxiety or an uncomfortabilityfeeling that sometimes arise when a user is provided with no sensorystimulus that the user's call is being processed.

Upon the successful retrieval of the personalized account information at208, the simulated phone call continues until a confirmation is receivedby a processor in the portable communication device that the owner'shome page will load appropriately. Upon receiving the confirmation thatthe owner's home page will load appropriately, the simulated phone call207 ends. At this point, the portable communication device plays anaudio welcome message to the user of the portable communication device,and displays the owner's visual IVR home page at 209.

Preferably, the audio welcome message directs the user of the portablecommunication device to look at the display of the portablecommunication device when it is safe to do so. This safety reminder isprovided to remind the user to complete any activity in which the useris engaged in a safe manner before redirecting the user's eyes from theactivity. This reminder is particularly appropriate, for example, to auser who is currently engaging in the driving of an automobile or otheractivity where harm to the user or another individual may occur if theuser's visual attention was abruptly redirected to the display of theportable communication device. However, the user may elect to opt out ofutilizing visual displays and utilize an entirely audible interface. Inthese instances, the user interacts with the system using voice controlthrough a traditional voice IVR system. The overall process at thispoint transitions from the call redirect portion of the overall processto the visual IVR portion of the process.

In those instances, however, when the network is not able toauthenticate the identification of the caller using the predeterminedcriteria as the owner of the portable communication device at 205, theprocess proceeds to 211 where an audio welcome message is played and ageneric visual IVR home page is played for the caller. While the genericvisual home page is similar to the personalized visual IVR home page,the generic visual IVR home page is not caller specific, and does notinclude any sensitive personal information relating to the owner of theportable communication device. Thus, when the caller is a non-owner ofthe portable communication device, the caller may still use the portablecommunication device, subject to having access to any initial securityaccess code that may be needed to unlock the portable communicationdevice.

When the caller is presented with either the personalized visual IVRhome page or the generic visual IVR home page, the caller is presentedwith several options. FIG. 3 illustrates a tiered arrangement 300 of anexemplary embodiment of the owner's visual IVR home page 301, and one ofmany subsequent additional visual pages 302 that may be displayed to thecaller dependent upon the selection made by the caller on the visual IVRhome page 301. This illustration is exemplary in nature and may bevisually configured in many different ways and with as many succeedingvisual tiers as necessary. However, the functionality of the owner'svisual IVR home page, and the subsequent additional follow-on visualpages, remain consistent in providing an expeditious and user-friendlyexperience for locating desired information and contacting an agentknowledgeable in the subject matter at issue.

As stated above, in FIG. 3 the overall illustration is identified by300, which includes both an illustration of an exemplary owner home page301 and a representative sample of a subsequent additional follow-onvisual page 302. The owner home page 301 contains a variety ofinformation as the main entry point into the visual IVR experience. Theinformation generally includes the identification of the serviceprovider that is providing communication services for the portablecommunication device, and information regarding the owner's accountnumber with the service provider. Such information would normallyinclude current information regarding the owner's bill. Relevant currentbill information would include the current balance of the owner'saccount, the current due date of the next payment, and possiblyinformation relating to the owner having an overdue balance on theowner's account.

Similarly, current information regarding the owner's usage summaryduring the present billing cycle may be presented. This informationwould preferably include the minutes available per billing cycle underthe owner's present voice call plan, the minutes used during the currentbilling cycle, and the minutes currently remaining in the currentbilling cycle. Additionally, when the owner has a data plan, the currentinformation would preferably include the data available per billingcycle under the owner's present data plan, and the data used during thepresent billing cycle, and the data currently remaining in the currentbilling cycle. Similarly, when the owner has a text message plan, thecurrent information would preferably include the number of text messagesthat are available per billing cycle under the owner's present dataplan, the number of text message that have been sent during the presentbilling cycle, and the number of text messages that are currentlyremaining in the current billing cycle.

Other operational features relating to an owner's billing and usageinformation would be the provision of visual icons or button, which whenactivated, will enable the owner to proceed to a subsequent visual pagethat permits the owner to view and pay the owner′ bill. Similarly,another visual icon or button may be activated to view further detailsregarding the owner's usage of voice, data, and text message allotments.

The owner's visual home page preferably also provides a plurality ofvisual command prompts, which when activated by either touching anappropriate icon or button on the visual home page or by voice command.Such visual command prompts will generally provide the owner access to asecond level of visual information pages. Exemplary visual commandprompts for an owner's home page may include prompts for: accessingother accounts that the owner may have with the same service provider,checking the owner's upgrade status, resetting of the owner's voicemailpassword, obtaining access to frequently asked questions and relatedanswers regarding the owner's account and/or portable communicationdevice, talking with an agent of the service provider, managing planservices that are available to the owner, as well as a prompt forgetting visual access to more visual prompts that have not been includedon the owner's visual home page.

As further illustrated in FIG. 3, a plurality of visual prompts permitsthe owner to access additional follow-on visual displays, generallyproviding more detailed information regarding the information associatedwith the main prompt that is being activated. For example, in FIG. 3when the owner activates the visual prompt entitled “Get Account andDevice FAQs” on the owner's visual home page 301, the visual IVR programexecutes a command to proceed to a second level visual display 302 thatis associated with the main first level prompt on the owner's visualhome page. In the example illustrated in FIG. 3, the second level visualdisplay provides more detailed information regarding frequently askedquestions regarding the owner's account and portable communicationdevice. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the exemplary second level promptsinclude prompts for: Voice Mail FAQs, Account & Plan FAQs, Device FAQs,and a prompt for Talk to Agent. These second level visual prompts enablethe owner to quickly proceed through the visual IVR pages to access theinformation desired. Additionally, it is preferable that at each visuallevel, the agent accessible by the “Talk to Agent” prompt becomes morespecialized and possessing readily available specialized informationregarding the visual prompts included on the visual level beingaccessed. Furthermore, some visual prompts may be repeated, such as the“Change Accounts” prompts, to enable the user to access this prompt on avariety of visual levels.

The number of visual prompts, the configuration of the visual prompts,and availability of icons or buttons to activate the prompts, forexample, are selectably changeable by the service provider. This abilityto alter all aspects of the visual IVR permits the service provider tocontinually human engineer the visual IVR to be responsive tooperational changes, to adapt to unexpected situations, and to increasethe user-friendliness of the visual IVR based on feedback from users ofthe visual IVR interface.

As discussed above, there are no set limits as to how many levels ofvisual displays may be utilized in the visual IVR. The visual IVR beginswith the owner visual home page, which generally corresponds to the baseof a tree, and continues with each succeeding level of visual pagesrepresenting another set of operational tree branches, which becomesmore detailed at each succeeding level.

Furthermore, the visual information provided at each visual level may beprogrammed to change dependent upon one or more various factors. Forinstance, the visual information presented may change dependent upon themonth of the year, the week of the month, the day of the week, and/orthe time of the day. The visual information may also change due to theholidays or special events. Additionally, the visual information maychange due to the language setting of the portable communication device,or the geographical location of the portable communication devicedetected by an electronic position locator program included in theportable communication device. The preceding examples are not limitingand may include any number of variations in order to provide the ownerof the portable communication device with a most informative and userfriendly experience for interacting with the service provider associatedwith the visual IVR application.

With regard to the prompt relating to the changing of accounts, theother accounts may include any number of accounts relating to theservice provider of the visual IVR program. For instance, the otheraccount may include access to account for home or mobile televisionservices, home or mobile phone services, computer services (includingdesktop, laptop, tablet, personal digital assistant, smart-phone, mi-fi,etc.), and any other wired or wireless services provided by the serviceprovider.

Further prompts that may be included in the visual IVR include promptsfor: activating service provider agent call-back functionality,scheduling service provider agent call-back appointments, schedulingin-store service provider agent appointments, virtual-chatfunctionality, live-chat functionality, ordering/purchasingservice-provider-related items for delivery or in-store pick-up,troubleshooting, accessing self-help audio/video modules, accessingself-diagnostic tools, accessing how-to video clips, accessing deviceoperational and physical features tutorials, and accessing technicalsupport. Additionally, a special owner prompt may be included to“bookmark” a special location in the visual IVR program to which theowner would like to return to directly in a short-cut manner withoutneeding to start at the beginning owner visual home page.

FIG. 4 provides an illustration 400 of a process initiated from thevisual IVR home page to talk with a service provider agent. The processillustrated in FIG. 4 relates to the personalized visual IVR home page.A similar process is provided to a caller that is not the owner of thepersonal communication device, however, the visual displays do notprovide any personalized information regarding the account of the ownerof the portable communication device.

At 401, using the visual home page the caller makes a selection to talkwith a service provider agent at 402. This selection may be made byselecting a visual prompt, such as that illustrated in the personalizedvisual home page 301 illustrated in FIG. 3, by audio command, or by somecombination of visual and audio commands. Upon making the selection totalk with a service provider agent, the process retrieves informationfrom a stored customer profile at 402. The stored customer profile wouldinclude personalized information associated with the owner of theportable communication device. At 404, the visual IVR program woulddisplays a variety of choices available to the caller. Since the visualIVR program provides an option to talk with a service provider agent atsubstantially all of the visual displays of the various visual IVRtiers, the choices provided to the caller may vary to be more subjectmatter specific. Generally speaking, the further the call proceedsthrough successive visual tiers, the more subject matter specific thechoices available become. However, the caller is always provided theoption to speak with an agent that has access to any account-relatedservice provider information.

At 405, the visual IVR program retrieves the attributes associated withthe call choice made by the caller, and determines is the appropriateservice provider office having the requested information is open forbusiness at 406. When the specific service provider office is open, thecall is routed directly to an applicable agent to provide service to thecaller at 407. However, when the specific service provider office is notopen, an informational message is provided to the caller informing thecaller when the office is open and/or providing other information thatmay be of assistance to the caller at 408. This information message maybe a visual message, an audio message, or a combination of visual andaudio messages. The intent is to provide the caller with an option totalk with a service provider agent from the visual IVR home page, andfrom each of the various tiers of visual displays, so that the callerhas a satisfying experience using the visual IVR system and may elect tospeak with a service provider agent at any point as they progressthrough the IVR system tiers.

Although the invention has been described with reference to severalexemplary embodiments, it is understood that the words that have beenused are words of description and illustration, rather than words oflimitation. Changes may be made within the purview of the appendedclaims, as presently stated and as amended, without departing from thescope and spirit of the invention in its aspects. Although the inventionhas been described with reference to particular means, materials andembodiments, the invention is not intended to be limited to theparticulars disclosed; rather the invention extends to all functionallyequivalent structures, methods, and uses such as are within the scope ofthe appended claims.

For example, the method may be implemented using various forms ofcommunication including telephone land lines, cell phones, voice overInternet protocol, and video calls.

While the computer-readable medium is shown to be a single medium, theterm “computer-readable medium” includes a single medium or multiplemedia, such as a centralized or distributed database, and/or associatedcaches and servers that store one or more sets of instructions. The term“computer-readable medium” shall also include any medium that is capableof storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution bya processor or that cause a computer system to perform any one or moreof the methods or operations disclosed herein.

In a particular non-limiting, exemplary embodiment, thecomputer-readable medium can include a solid-state memory such as amemory card or other package that houses one or more non-volatileread-only memories. Further, the computer-readable medium can be arandom access memory or other volatile re-writable memory. Additionally,the computer-readable medium can include a magneto-optical or opticalmedium, such as a disk or tapes or other storage device to capturecarrier wave signals such as a signal communicated over a transmissionmedium. Accordingly, the disclosure is considered to include anycomputer-readable medium or other equivalents and successor media, inwhich data or instructions may be stored.

Although the present specification describes components and functionsthat may be implemented in particular embodiments with reference toparticular standards and protocols, the disclosure is not limited tosuch standards and protocols. For example, standards for Internet andother packed switched network transmission (e.g., VoIP, VoiceXML, SALT,SRGS, SISR, SSML, PLS, CCXML) represent examples of the state of theart. Such standards are periodically superseded by faster or moreefficient equivalents having essentially the same functions.Accordingly, replacement standards and protocols having the same orsimilar functions are considered equivalents thereof.

The illustrations of the embodiments described herein are intended toprovide a general understanding of the structure of the variousembodiments. The illustrations are not intended to serve as a completedescription of all of the elements and features of apparatus and systemsthat utilize the structures or methods described herein. Many otherembodiments may be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewingthe disclosure. Other embodiments may be utilized and derived from thedisclosure, such that structural and logical substitutions and changesmay be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure.Additionally, the illustrations are merely representational and may notbe drawn to scale. Certain proportions within the illustrations may beexaggerated, while other proportions may be minimized. Accordingly, thedisclosure and the figures are to be regarded as illustrative ratherthan restrictive.

One or more embodiments of the disclosure may be referred to herein,individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merely forconvenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of thisapplication to any particular invention or inventive concept. Moreover,although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, it should be appreciated that any subsequent arrangementdesigned to achieve the same or similar purpose may be substituted forthe specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to cover anyand all subsequent adaptations or variations of various embodiments.Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments notspecifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in theart upon reviewing the description.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R.§1.72(b) and is submitted with the understanding that it will not beused to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Inaddition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, various features may begrouped together or described in a single embodiment for the purpose ofstreamlining the disclosure. This disclosure is not to be interpreted asreflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require morefeatures than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as thefollowing claims reflect, inventive subject matter may be directed toless than all of the features of any of the disclosed embodiments. Thus,the following claims are incorporated into the Detailed Description,with each claim standing on its own as defining separately claimedsubject matter.

The above disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative, andnot restrictive, and the appended claims are intended to cover all suchmodifications, enhancements, and other embodiments which fall within thetrue spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Thus, to the maximumextent allowed by law, the scope of the present disclosure is to bedetermined by the broadest permissible interpretation of the followingclaims and their equivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited bythe foregoing detailed description.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for redirecting a call initiated from aportable communication device, the method comprising: screening callsinitiated from the portable communication device; on the portablecommunication device, automatically redirecting the call initiated fromthe portable communication device from a normal communication network toa specified service provider communication network when the screeningdetermines that the call matches predetermined criteria; authenticatingan account corresponding to a user of the portable communication devicethat initiated the call; executing a visual IVR application thatvisually interacts with the user of the portable communication deviceupon authentication of the account, and forwarding the redirected callvia a communication network to an alternate system when theauthentication of the account fails; retrieving personalized accountinformation from the service provider for use by the visual IVRapplication upon authentication of the account, and displaying selectedretrieved personalized account information on a display of the portablecommunication device.
 2. The method as described in claim 1, wherein thealternate system is an audio IVR system.
 3. The method as described inclaim 1, further comprising: selectively providing an audiocommunication, a visual communication, or an audio and visualcommunication to the user of the portable communication device uponcompletion of the retrieving personalized account information, based onthe user's preference.
 4. The method as described in claim 1, whereinthe screening calls is performed by execution of a communicationapplication stored in a memory of the portable communication device. 5.The method as described in claim 1, further comprising: simulating aphone call by playing a ring cycle audio file that is audible to theuser of the portable communication device during the authenticating anaccount and the retrieving personalized account information.
 6. Themethod as described in claim 1, wherein matching the predeterminedcriteria includes determining whether a service provider currentlyproviding communication services to the portable communication devicematches a designated service provider.
 7. The method as described inclaim 1, wherein the retrieved personalized account information isretrieved from a service provider and varies dependent upon a durationof time that the user of the portable communication device has used thespecified service provider communication network.
 8. The method asdescribed in claim 1, wherein the selected retrieved personalizedaccount information includes a current status of user billinginformation.
 9. The method as described in claim 1, wherein the selectedretrieved personalized account information includes a plurality ofvisual selectors that enable the user of the portable communicationdevice to select additional visual pages of information and to talk withan agent of a service provider.
 10. The method as described in claim 9,wherein the additional visual pages of information provide visualselectors enabling the user of the portable communication device to talkto a specialized agent of the service provider who possesses specializedknowledge about a specific service provided by the service provider. 11.The method as described in claim 9, wherein the plurality of visualselectors includes a visual selector that enables the user of theportable communication device to initiate an enhanced authenticationprocess enabling the user to access user information having a higherlevel of security than the retrieved personalized account information.12. The method as described in claim 9, wherein the plurality of visualselectors that enable the user of the portable communication device toselect additional visual pages of information and to talk with the agentof the service provider may be activated by the user touching thedisplay of the portable communication device.
 13. The method asdescribed in claim 9, wherein the plurality of visual selectors thatenable the user of the portable communication device to selectadditional visual pages of information and to talk with the agent of theservice provider may be activated by the user audibly issuing voice ortext commands to the portable communication device, which are receivedby a receiver in the portable communication device.
 14. The method asdescribed in claim 1, further comprising: identifying a type of theportable communication device, redirecting the call initiated from theportable communication device internally by the portable communicationdevice when the type is identified as a first type of portablecommunication device, and redirecting the call initiated from theportable communication device externally by the designated serviceprovider communication network when the type is identified as a secondtype of portable communication device.
 15. The method as described inclaim 10, wherein designated visual selectors enable the user to executespecial functions, the special functions including managingcommunication plan services, checking upgrade status, resetting apassword, or accessing information determined to be useful to the userof the portable communication device by the service provider.
 16. Themethod as described in claim 10, wherein designated visual selectorsenable the user to execute special functions, the special functionsincluding accessing other service accounts that the user has with theservice provider.
 17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumencoded with an executable computer program for redirecting a callinitiated from a portable communication device, and when executed by aprocessor, causes the processor to perform operations comprising:screening calls initiated from the portable communication device; on theportable communication device, automatically redirecting the callinitiated from the portable communication device from a normalcommunication network to a specified service provider communicationnetwork when the screening determines that the call matchespredetermined criteria; authenticating an account corresponding to auser of the portable communication device that initiated the call;executing a visual IVR application that visually interacts with the userof the portable communication device upon authentication of the accountby the specified service provider communication network, and forwardingthe redirected call via a communication network to an alternate systemwhen the authentication of the account fails; retrieving personalizedaccount information for use by the visual IVR application uponauthentication of the account, and displaying selected retrievedpersonalized account information on a display of the portablecommunication device.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium according to claim 17, wherein the operations further includesimulating a phone call by playing a ring cycle audio file that isaudible to the user of the portable communication device during theauthenticating an account and the retrieving personalized accountinformation.
 19. A portable communication device, comprising: a memorythat stores programs and data used by the portable communication device,including a communication application; a display that displaysinformation to a user of the portable communication device; and aprocessor that screens calls, using the communication application,initiated from the portable communication device, automaticallyredirects a call initiated from the portable communication device from anormal communication network when the screening determines that the callmatches predetermined criteria, authenticates an account correspondingto a user of the portable communication device that initiated the callby communicating with the specified service provider communicationnetwork, and executes a visual IVR application that visually interactswith the user of the portable communication device upon authenticationof the account, and forwards the redirected call via a communicationnetwork to an alternate system when authentication of the account fails,wherein the processor retrieves personalized account information fromthe service provider for use by the visual IVR application uponauthentication of the account by the specified service providercommunication network, and displays selected retrieved personalizedaccount information on the display.
 20. The portable communicationdevice according to claim 19, wherein the processor simulates a phonecall by playing a ring cycle audio file that is audible to the user ofthe portable communication device during the authenticating an accountand the retrieving personalized account information.